Zenith 601XL accident near Albertville, AL
On June 3, 2023, a Zenith 601XL (airplane) was involved in an accident near Albertville, AL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- June 3, 2023
- Place
- Albertville, AL
- Aircraft
- Zenith 601XL · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 34.276°N, 86.300°W
- NTSB ID
- 20230604192298
Official records · ERA23FA254
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On June 3, 2023, at 1320 central daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Zenith 601XL, N601YP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Albertville, Alabama. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 flight. A friend of the pilot, who was a mechanic and familiar with the build project of the accident airplane, had observed several test flights. He reported that he was assisting the accident pilot with troubleshooting several systems, notably the oil pressure and airspeed, and their respective interface with the Electronic Flight Instrumentation System and Engine Monitoring System. After fixing the airspeed issue and working with the pilot to reset the oil pressure triggers per the engine manufacturer, the pilot began another test flight. According to the mechanic, he informed the pilot to stay over the airport per the regulations and for safety reasons. The pilot departed the Albertville Regional Airport-Thomas J Brumlik Field (8A0) Albertville, Alabama, and data recovered from the airplane’s electronic instruments showed that the airplane flew to the southwest. Over the next 30 minutes, the airplane made several heading changes and a climbed to 4,000 ft msl before descending and leveling off at 2,050 ft msl. Several witnesses near the accident site reported that the airplane appeared to be flying slow and at low power when, suddenly, it “went full throttle” and nosed over. One witness reported that it pitched up and down several times and rolled left and right before
Probable cause
A descent and impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined.
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Browse: Alabama · Zenith aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
